A Night in Tunisia [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED]

Art Blakey

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: August 14, 1960
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Blue Note Records
• ASIN: B000005HC5
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #207,653 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
Throughout his long career, Art Blakey built a tremendous reputation for aggressive bands that featured the most gifted young musicians. Few of his later bands, however, could stand comparison with this 1960 edition of the hard-bop juggernaut. Its members combined strong writing skills with distinctive solo voices, including the creative seeking of tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter; the edgy, sometimes blistering, trumpet of Lee Morgan; and the soul-drenched piano of Bobby Timmons. Blakey's drumming contributes an explosive drive to this CD's version of Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night in Tunisia," a coiling snake of bop exoticism, while "So Tired" is a Timmons essay in deep funk, like his better-known "Moanin'" and "Dat Dere" an elemental tune with subtle underpinnings. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Messengers, July 19, 2000

By	Michael B. Richman (Portland, Maine USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Of the half-dozen albums this edition of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers recorded in 1960 and early 1961, this is the finest. "A Night in Tunisia" was recorded over two sessions yielding enough material for this album and "Like Someone in Love." The latter album is great as well, but there is just something about the sequence of the Tunisia tracks that makes it a masterpiece. "A Night in Tunisia" opens with the fever-pitched rhythmic orgasm that is the title track. And the album doesn't catch its breath until the reflective "Yama." Then things pick back up again with Blakey's gallop-like drumming on the opening of "Kozo's Waltz." Finally, it's hard to believe "When Your Lover Has Gone" was not the last song on the original album because as the concluding piece, it fits like a glove. "A Night in Tunisia" is a classic from start to finish.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bow down and worship Art Blakey, March 24, 2001

By	W. A. Norris (Laramie, WY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The title track is very possibly the hottest smoking jazz you will ever hear in your life. You will be flat-out amazed that there's only one man playing the drums--Blakey sounds like a percussion ensemble all on his own. If you like jazz that can really tear the roof off, you must own this CD.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic jazz recording that stands the test of time, May 31, 2002

By	Todd Ebert (Long Beach California) - See all my reviews

It was not until listening to the title track of this recording (as well as John Coltrane's "Live at Birdland" which featured Sir Elvin Jones) that I understood that the creation of spatial polyrhythmic dimensions with percussion did not begin with Ginger Baker (or any other rock drummer) but rather with Jones and Art Blakey. Before this I assumed that most jazz drummers were simply there to mark time for the brass section. But drummers like Blakey, Jones, and even Max Roach were laying the foundations of what people would later call "hard rock". In the case of Blakey, the term given was "hard bop", but labels aside his drumming on this recording shows how a drummer can have voice without taking away from melody and rhythm.

The other blessings of this recording are the strong compositons and performances provided by Wayne Shorter and Lee Morgan. Tunes like "Sincerely Diana", "Yama", and "Kozo's Waltz" are previews of the future greatness of these two horn players.

Blakey also put out another release of "Night in Tunisia" with a later ensemble back in the eighties, of which I also highly recommend.